


La La Love

by cheeseandsugar



Series: We Young [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, Some Cursing, established markhyuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-15 06:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13608015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheeseandsugar/pseuds/cheeseandsugar
Summary: Jeno hears a voice and suddenly he's starting to fall in love.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I've had the idea for this since the We Young album was released but I only now got it done,, I hate writer's block.  
> I really hope you guys like it!

Jeno is walking with Mark in the desolate school hallways after basketball practice when he hears it.

The most beautiful voice he’s ever heard.

The melody sweeps over him like a wave and he stops in his tracks, frozen in awe. Mark stops three steps later, looking back questioningly.

Jeno feels his eyebrows draw together as he frowns, focusing on the sound.

Mark walks back slowly. “What is it?”

Jeno turns to look at the door to the school’s theatre. He just points. He doesn’t want to speak to disturb the already faint song coming through the door.

“They have choir in there right now. Donghyuck’s there,” Mark informs him.

Jeno gestures at Mark to be quiet. He steps toward the door, almost pressing his ear against it.

He only has a few seconds of bliss as the song finishes soon after, the voice fading away and being replaced by a round of applause.

Jeno actually pouts. Longing surges through him and he almost barges into the room to find out whose voice was that but Mark yanks him away by his collar quickly.

“Dude what’s wrong with you?” Mark frowns at his awestruck friend.

“Didn’t you hear that?” Jeno blurts.

“Yeah, someone was singing,” Mark deadpans. “That’s what they do in choir on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. You know this.”

He does. He’s best friends with Mark who’s best friends with—now dating—Donghyuck. That makes him best friends with Donghyuck by association. So he knows that Tuesday and Thursday were the two days of the week that Mark didn’t get to walk Donghyuck home because the younger has choir which finishes an hour and a half after school (and Mark whines a lot when he’s lonely). This school year, though, Mark had signed up for basketball along with Jeno and basketball practice happens to be at the same time as choir. Mark pretends his decision wasn’t influenced by the opportunity to walk home with Donghyuck every day. Jeno knows better.

So yes, Jeno is aware that there’s choir on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons but that isn’t the point.

He says as much. “The point is that there’s got to be someone new in choir because I’ve never heard that voice before at any shitty school function where the choir performs. I would’ve noticed.”

“Excuse you, anything that Donghyuck performs in automatically is _not_ shitty,” Mark objects.

Jeno rolls his eyes. “Right, yeah, sorry, Lover Boy.”

Mark scoffs. “Do you really think you should be calling me ‘Lover Boy’ right now? You’re literally crushing on a voice.”

“I am not. Didn’t you notice Donghyuck because his voice is, and I quote, ‘ _so unique and glorious that I want to give him an award while crying my eyes out_ ’.”

Mark’s cheeks turn red but he glares at Jeno. “I told you never to mention that. It was a soft moment, okay? And I didn’t fall in love with Donghyuck because of his voice, that just added to it. I only heard him sing after we met.”

“Yeah right, you were so whipped for him that day I thought you were gonna propose.”

Mark gets even redder. “Can we n – “

The door suddenly opens, making Jeno jump and push Mark to the side. About twenty teenagers pour out of the room, chatting amongst themselves. Jeno scans all of their faces as they rush by but he only thinks he sees three or four new kids. Jeno knows he’s a bit oblivious on a regular day, so he doesn’t trust his judgement on who’s new and who isn’t.

Mark calls for Donghyuck as he passes by, not noticing the two boys pressed behind the door. Donghyuck’s newly dyed auburn hair flicks to the side as he looks back at the origin of his boyfriend’s voice. Eyebrows jumping up, he halts and turns to them with a smile.

“Hey,” he greets as Mark and Jeno unfreeze and walk towards him.

Jeno grunts in response but Mark, love-struck as he is, smiles giddily and intertwines their fingers.

Jeno would usually pretend to gag at this point, but his mind is preoccupied. As they leave the school together, he asks, “Hey, Donghyuck, do you remember who was the person singing, like, right before you guys finished?” 

Donghyuck squints into the sun. “Uh...Renjun?”

“Renjun?” Jeno echoes. _Pretty name_.

“Yeah, I think so,” Donghyuck says. “He’s new, he transferred this year. Said he’s from China but his Korean is pretty good. All the new members sang one of their favourite songs today as part of their introduction.”

Jeno mentally saves all of this information. He’s fascinated by the idea of this transfer student already. Now he just needs to find out who, exactly, he is and inconspicuously get closer to him. Naturally, Mark blows it for him.

“When we were passing by the room, Jeno literally fell in love with this guy’s voice. He stopped and put his ear to the door and everything. He was _shook_.”

Jeno punches his best friend in the arm. “ _Mark Lee, you do not want to play dirty_ ,” he growls.

Donghyuck laughs. “Aw, that’s cute!”

“No, it isn’t!” Jeno exclaims. Jeno prefers to be seen as cool and revokes any association with the adjective ‘cute’.

“Yeah, it is,” Donghyuck insists. “Do you want me to introduce him to you? I’ll be your wing man.”

Jeno scrunches his nose in disgust at the idea of _Donghyuck_ being his _wing man_ but then he remembers that he needs a way to get close to Renjun.

“Okay, but _do not_ call yourself my wing man.”

Donghyuck smirks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for giving this fic a chance. Kudos and comments are appreciated a lot <3


	2. Chapter Two

The next day at school, Jeno tries his hardest to notice the new transfer students. He asks around and discovers that there’s two transfers from China this year. One is in his year and the other is two years younger.

In his Biology class there’s a cute boy whom he is 99% sure is one of them but the boy doesn’t speak for the entire class. Jeno regrets sleeping in their first class of the year when they’d all had to introduce themselves.

At lunchtime, Jeno is sitting at their usual table inhaling a sandwich. He shakes his head at Jisung who’s sitting across from him, muttering to himself, cramming for a physics test. It’s the boy’s first week as a freshman and he’s already behind on studying. Not that Jeno is any better on a regular basis.

His phone buzzes and he looks down to read a text from Mark so he doesn’t spot three boys entering the cafeteria.

**Mark: _incoming. look presentable._**

He stops chewing and frowns at his phone, wondering what his friend could be referring to.

“Hey, guys!”

His thoughts are interrupted by Mark’s voice. He snaps his head up, ready to ask about the text, when he notices someone else standing beside Mark and, expectedly, Donghyuck.

“Jeno!” Donghyuck exclaims. Jeno knows that something’s up by the tone of Donghyuck’s voice.

He realizes it all at once.

_Fuck._

It’s the boy from his Biology class. A.k.a. his possible mystery singer a.k.a. the possible love of his life.

He sits up abruptly and tries to nonchalantly wipe away any crumbs stuck around his mouth.

“Jisung.” Donghyuck nudges the youngest boy.

Jisung looks up, spouting an equation in the process. “Huh?”

“This,” Donghyuck rests his hand gently on the newcomer’s shoulder and the boy smiles shyly. “Is Renjun. I invited him to have lunch with us.”

The confirmation makes Jeno forget all of his social skills.

“Hi,” Renjun says, bowing slightly to them. “I’m Hwang Renjun. Nice to meet you.”

Jeno just stares, trying to take in everything he can.

Renjun is cuter than he’d originally thought. He’s got fluffy black hair and pretty eyes. When he turns to smile at Jeno, the younger feels his heart soar when he notices Renjun’s snaggle-tooth. He feels like there should be sparkles and hearts hovering around Renjun’s head 24/7.

He remembers that he should probably say something. “H-hello.” He bows his head to Renjun. “Uh, I’m Jeno. Lee Jeno,” he mutters.

Jisung just blurts, “Hi. My name is Jisung,” his eyes already back on his notebook.

Donghyuck yells, “Hey! He’s your hyung by two years, get up and be respectful!”

Jisung rolls his eyes but obeys. He makes sure to bump into Donghyuck’s shoulder in the process, emphasizing that he’s taller.

Jisung puts on a huge fake smile and bows 90degrees. “Hello, I am Park Jisung! Nice to meet you Renjun-Hyung!”

Donghyuck’s glaring at the youngest but Renjun smiles softly and bows his head in reciprocation.

They all sit and Jeno’s breath gets stuck in his throat when Renjun ends up beside him. He should’ve realized this was going to happen the second they’d shown up. He should’ve sat next to Jisung like he’s been reminding himself to for the past four days. (To get away from the couple). But he was distracted. Now three people have to sit on one side and two on the other and obviously Donghyuck and Mark sat down together. Next to Jisung, darn it. So Renjun sits next to Jeno as any person with common sense would.

The bench is big enough for three so there’s enough space between Jeno and the transfer that the former doesn’t completely short circuit. He picks up the remnants of his sandwich, trying to act as if he’s not tracking Renjun’s every movement.

He’s thankful for Donghyuck’s social skills as the boy starts a conversation that isn’t awkward.

Jeno only speaks when Donghyuck purposefully directs the dialog to him.

“So Renjun, why’d you move to South Korea?” Donghyuck asks as he begins to munch on a bowl of noodles.

Renjun glances up from a sandwich of his own. “My mom got promoted and had to move here for her job.”

“Oh that’s cool. Where does she work?”

Renjun’s tongue skates over his snagged tooth. “Samsung.”

Jisung, a geek at heart, looks up from his page of physics units. “Are you serious?” he blurts.

Renjun nods. “Yeah.”

“Omg does sh — “

“AHA, you know what’s funny?” Donghyuck interrupts. “Jeno’s dad works at Apple.”

Jeno wants to scoff at how far Donghyuck reaches for _that_ but takes the opportunity to chuckle at Renjun instead. “Yeah.”

Renjun gives Jeno his soft smile in return. It’s enough to make Jeno’s stomach tighten.

The Chinese boy opens his mouth to say something but Jisung is still excited. “Does that mean you have the latest phone?” he questions, looking eager.

Renjun’s eyes shift over to the youngest with amusement. “Um, yeah, but—“

“Whoa, can I see?”

Renjun retrieves his new Samsung Galaxy 8 from his pocket, a week before it’s supposed to be in stores, and hands it over to Jisung’s waiting palms.

“Omg, it’s so pretty!” Jisung exclaims in an awe, his mouth hanging open.

Jeno is incredulous enough to not be 100% focused on Renjun at the moment. “You never get that excited when I get the new phone.”

“That’s because Apple is — “

“Can we please not start the Apple versus Samsung discussion right now,” Mark pleads.

Donghyuck backs him up. “Jisung, study for your test.”

Jisung glares at Jeno as he hands back the phone. “You know which side I’m on.”

Jeno can only roll his eyes.

Donghyuck gets back to work. “Renjun, how come you’re so good at Korean?”

Jeno spends the lunch break documenting facts about Renjun in his mind.

His hometown is near the Korean border, which is why he’s so good at Korean. His birthday is March 23rd (Jeno files this under _Important!_ ), exactly a month before Jeno’s. His favourite colour is orange. He’s not very good at sports but likes reading and singing. He lives about five minutes away from Jeno. He likes art and Moomin which makes sense because he’s got a Moomin charm on his backpack.

When the bell rings and they all have to go to class, Jeno wonders how he’s gonna focus for the rest of the afternoon.


	3. Chapter Three

Jeno rushes Mark that afternoon after basketball practice. Mark wonders if he was this annoying when he started crushing on Donghyuck. The answer is _yes_.

When they walk past the theatre, hair still dripping wet, the door is already ajar. Students are idling down the hall, chattering softly among them.

Jeno spots Renjun leaning against the rim of a noticeboard, talking to Donghyuck. The Chinese boy has on circular glasses and Jeno suddenly wants to die.

Mark points them out and directs his footsteps towards the pair but Jeno wants to shrink back into a shell like a crab and hide. It’s weird, he thinks, how he always wants to be near to Renjun but when he actually is, he just wants to run away.

Mark doesn’t even glance back in question at Jeno’s slow pace. He greets the two boys easily, playfully pulling on Donghyuck’s ear in the process.

Jeno inches up and reminds himself repeatedly to stay cool. When Renjun’s gaze lands on him, he forces his smile to look normal instead of giddy.

Donghyuck and Mark begin to walk towards the exit and naturally, Jeno follows with Renjun close behind.

He’s startled when Renjun speaks. “You just had basketball practice?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah. Yeah, I did. With Mark,” Jeno replies. He slows down to allow Renjun to walk beside him.

_This is a normal conversation_ , he scolds himself. _Just act like you usually do._

Renjun nods. “That’s cool. You must really like it.”

It’s Jeno’s turn to nod. “Yeah. I’ve been playing since I was a freshman.”

“Do you — “

“Okay, guys, we’ll see you later,” Donghyuck says as they reach the school’s gate. Mark waves. “Bye!” And the couple begins their daily walk home together.

Jeno usually walks a block with them before turning onto his own path but Renjun stops at the exit so Jeno stops too.

He runs through three possible sentence structures before he decides on: “How are you getting home?”

Renjun adjusts his bag on his shoulder. “My mom is picking me up.”

Jeno ends up nodding again.

He stares at the ground as the silence between them draws out. _What should he say what should he say what should he say???_ Oh!

“Were you gonna say something before Donghyuck and Mark-Hyung left?”

Renjun looks up at him and their eyes lock for two seconds (which feels like eternity for Jeno) before he seems to recall what he’d started to say.

“Oh, I was gonna ask if you have any other hobbies.”

Renjun breaks their eye contact and Jeno actually breathes properly again before he responds. “Well, sometimes I dance. My dumb neighbour sometimes asks me to film him doing dance covers and then I somehow end up learning the dance.”

Renjun glances at him again. “You learn it from watching him?”

“If it’s easy.”

Jeno doesn’t mention that most times he purposefully learns the dance after Jaemin ropes him into coming over. He thinks it’ll make him seem cooler if he picks up on dances that easily.

Renjun’s left eyebrow quirks up. “You must be talented at dance, then.”

Jeno shrugs. “On a good day, I guess,” he chuckles slightly. Not a lie.

Renjun offers a small laugh in return before Jeno says, “Not as talented as you are at singing.”

Red blooms across Renjun’s cheeks and his eyes dart to the ground. “Thanks. It’s the only thing I’m really— wait, when did you hear me sing?” He looks back up at Jeno questioningly.

Jeno realizes he’s done for. _Damn it_. He thinks fast, coming up with a way to make it not sound creepy. “I heard you when you had choir on Tuesday. Mark and I came by to wait on Donghyuck and... that’s when we heard you.”

Renjun’s mouth forms an O as he begins to respond. “Oh. Oh, okay.” They lose the eye contact battle again. “I didn’t realize I was singing so loudly.”

Jeno thinks that Renjun is even cuter when he’s shy. “All the walls in the school are thin. You could be in Literature and hear the Physics teacher yelling at her students.”

Renjun laughs and Jeno’s heart soars. He likes seeing Renjun laugh—or just be happy in general. And the fact that he caused it makes it even better.

Renjun’s eyes flick back to the road to study an approaching car, as he’s been doing to every car since they’d arrived at the curb.

“Oh, my mom’s here,” he says, stepping closer to the edge of the sidewalk.

“Oh,” Jeno takes in everything about Renjun before he leaves. He gets a smile and a wave as the black car slows to a stop next to Renjun. “Bye, see you tomorrow.” (He hopes). He waves back, a grin already on his face from Renjun’s contagious smile.

“Bye!” Renjun gets in the car and in the brief moment that the door is open, Jeno sees the middle aged woman in the driver’s seat looking at him curiously. The door is closed before Jeno can react and the car rolls away the next second.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a longer chapter than usual so I'm a little proud of it. Jaemin's also in it and I tried to be humorous, I hope it worked

Jeno wakes up at ten o’clock on Saturday to messages on his phone.

**Donghyuck: _hey you guys wanna go to the movies today? I don’t wanna do my homework_**

**Mark: _sure I’m free after 3_**

**Jisung: _mom wants to know what movie_**

**Donghyuck: _just tell her some kids show. idek what’s showing_**

**Jisung: _time?_**

**Donghyuck: _4_**

**Donghyuck: _Jeno you coming?_**

**Jisung: _he better. I don’t wanna be with Donghyuck and Mark alone that's gross_**

**Mark: _he’s probably still sleeping_**

**Jisung: _I wish I was still sleeping_**

When Jeno reads the messages, they’re almost thirty minutes old.

**Jeno: _yeah I can make it_**

Jeno rolls off his bed to go to the bathroom and get breakfast and when he returns to his room, bowl of cereal in hand, he’s disoriented by a new message.

**Donghyuck: _why don’t you bring Renjun_**

Jeno feels a bubble of anxiety rise in his chest. He swallows it down with cereal and milk.

**Jeno: _why the heck would I do that_**

**Donghyuck: _bcs you’re whipped_**

**Mark: _it’s a good way to get closer to him_**

**Jisung: _ugh_**

**Jeno: _I’d rather not_**

**Jisung: _wimp_**

**Jeno: _stfu_**

**Jisung: _wimppppppppppp_**

**Jisung: _:P_**

**Donghyuck: _either you ask him or I will_**

**Jeno: _I guess Jisung isn’t getting my physics notes_**

**Jeno: _@Donghyuck you can ask him if you want idc_**

**Jisung: _crybaby_**

**Jisung: _whatever_**

**Donghyuck: _do you really want me to ask him?_**

**Donghyuck: _are you sure that’s the best idea?_**

**Donghyuck: _;)_**

**Mark: no Jeno you don’t want Hyuckie to do it**

**Jisung: _he’ll out you_**

**Jisung: _dUH_**

**Jeno: _oh fuck_**

**Jeno: _fine I’ll do it myself_**

**Jeno: _but I don’t have his number_**

**Jisung: _oh you failure_**

**Donghyuck: _lmaooooo_**

**Donghyuck: _I’ll send it to you_**

**Jeno: _Jisung you’re dead to me_**

Jeno procrastinates texting Renjun for the next hour. When he finally sits down to type out the text, it takes him ten minutes of contemplation before he hits send. Then it’s the most anxious five minutes of his life.

**Jeno: _Hey Renjun, it’s Jeno. Donghyuck gave me your number. We’re going to the movies at 4 along with Mark and Jisung. Do you wanna come?_**

When he gets the response, he almost breaks his finger with how fast he grabs the phone.

**Renjun: _sure!_**

Then Jeno has to debate if he will reply. He ends up sending back: **_cool see you there_**

~|~|~|~|~

Jeno is walking out his house at three thirty.

“See you later, Mom!”

“Bye, Jeno, call me if anything happens! Be home by ten!”

“Yeah, okay!”

He locks the door behind him and turns to begin his walk to the bus stop.

“Hey, Jeno!”

He stops in his tracks, wincing. “ _Fuck_.” He turns to the source of the voice.

A boy with fluffy black hair is poking his head out the second floor window of the house opposite Jeno’s.

“What do you want, Jaemin?” Jeno yells.

Jaemin grins. Jeno thinks he should’ve kept walking.

“Where are you going?”

“None of your business!”

Jaemin pouts. “But I’m bored.”

“Not my problem.” Jeno continues walking.

“Hey, I’ll throw my shoe at you!”

Sure enough, Jeno looks up to find Jaemin holding a shoe, ready to throw.

He rolls his eyes.

Jaemin, a boy his age who’s been his neighbour his entire life so far, is nosy. They’re friends, he’s actually one of Jeno’s closest, but Jaemin has a tendency to annoy Jeno for his own amusement.

Jaemin goes to a private school a half hour away in the suburbs. He says he doesn’t fit in with the rich crowd. His school fees are paid by his godmother but he’s grown up living a middle income life with his parents. He says the rich kids have a different vibe. He’s only friends with a Chinese boy a year younger than him who’s just as annoying as he is. When they’re together, Jeno either ends up having the time of his life, or pissed as all heck.

“I’m going to the movies,” Jeno says, not throwing his voice for Jaemin to hear clearly.

He does anyway.

“Oh, cool! Can I come?”

Jeno sighs and rubs his forehead, wondering if he can tolerate his neighbour for the next three or four hours. And Renjun is gonna be there. He doesn’t know how he feels about that.

When he looks back up though, Jaemin’s lips are downturned and he’s looking sad.

“Oh, fine, whatever!”

Jaemin lights up like he’s turned a switch. “Yes!”

“Be down here in five minutes or I’m leaving you!” Jeno yells, glancing at his watch. They better not miss the bus.

~|~|~|~|~

Jaemin makes it down in three minutes, hopping on his way out because he’s still pulling on a shoe—the same shoe he threatened to throw at Jeno—and they catch the bus by two seconds.

When they arrive at the cinema, Jisung, Donghyuck and Mark are already there. Jeno has to introduce them all to Jaemin, the younger boy very excited to meet new people.

They all start deciding which movie to watch but Jeno’s only thinking about Renjun.

_Did he ditch them?_

_Why was he late?_

_Did something happen?_

_Was he still coming?_

“Didn’t you say that four other people were gonna be here?” Jaemin asks, breaking Jeno out of his thoughts.

Jeno takes a moment to refocus on his words. “Uh, yeah...”

“His crush, Renjun, is supposed to come,” Jisung announces.

Jeno facepalms right there.

Jaemin looks back at Jeno with wide eyes. “You have a crush?” Then his surprised face transforms into a sly one. “Oh, this is gonna be fun.”

Jeno punches Jaemin’s arm. “It’s not gonna be fun for any of your messed up reasons. Just act normal please. And _please please please don’t embarrass me. Any_ of you.” He makes a point to glare each of them in the eye.

“No promises,” Donghyuck and Jaemin say in unison. They share a high-five after that.

Jeno is about to think that he needs new friends but he finds solace in Mark’s sympathetic look. He was the one pining a few months ago.

Then Jisung elbows him in his side and he’s ready to ask _why does he get abused like this_ when Jisung says, “He just came in.”

They all simultaneously look towards the entrance. Jeno’s eyes find Renjun too fast and his breath hitches.

_He looks so good, oh my flipping god._

Renjun’s wearing a cute dark green hoodie that’s a size or two too big for him so it gives him sweater paws and ends below his hips. Dark jeans ripped at the knees hug his legs in contrast to the big pullover and he has on black boots. Jeno’s favourite accessory makes an appearance too — _glasses_. Jeno can’t believe he gets all this eye candy to look at today. Jeno doesn’t realize that they’re gonna be in a dark theatre most of the time.

As soon as Renjun spots them, he smiles and speeds up towards them.

“Hey guys,” he greets.

They all say hello and Jeno introduces Jaemin yet again. “This is Jaemin, the dumb neighbour I told you about.”

Jaemin just grins. “I’m so flattered that you talk about me.”

Renjun chuckles at that and the two boys bow politely to each other.

Donghyuck then urges them all to buy their tickets and food, and soon they’re sitting in the movie theatre ready to watch a new rom-com.

When they were filing into the seats, Jeno pretended not to notice the way his friends fell back, resulting in Renjun leading, unaware, and Jeno forced to be between him and his other friends. So now they’re sitting in this order: Renjun, Jeno, Donghyuck, Mark, Jaemin, Jisung.

For the first half hour, Jeno is hyper-aware of Renjun so near to him. He notices every shift of his arm, every giggle and, most of all, every time their arms touch. They end up sharing Jeno’s large popcorn because he offers after Renjun finishes his Skittles. He begins to relax and become accustomed to Renjun’s presence, but even then, whenever their hands bump in the bucket of popcorn, his heart surges.

Coming up to the climax of the movie, Renjun starts making short comments that Jeno finds quite funny. They end up joking about the characters together and Jeno feels like he’s gained valuable information by discovering Renjun’s sense of humour. It’s surprisingly sarcastic.

Apparently he doesn’t say anything wrong either because Donghyuck nudges him some time and tells him, “You’re doing a great job. You haven’t even embarrassed yourself yet.”

When the movie finishes, he’s in good spirits. The lights come on and they gradually stand as the credits play and begin to walk out.

Jeno is in front of Renjun so he’s startled when he hears a yelp and a hand grips his shoulder. His reflexes act and he grabs onto the hand—obviously Renjun’s. He looks back to see Renjun steadying himself, looking down at his foot. The older boy glances up and pulls a lopsided smile, framed by pink cheeks.

“Are you okay?” Jeno asks, turning a bit to get a better view.

“Yeah.” Renjun nods. “I just tripped.”

His hand is still under Jeno’s and their eyes lock until Jeno realizes and drops his hand.

“Okay, be careful,” he says, before turning back around and continuing their walk out of the theatre.

Their friends must’ve gone ahead with the crowd because he doesn’t see them. His assumption is correct because when they exit, they find two of their friends standing just outside.

He immediately gets a questioning look from Donghyuck while Mark makes an effort to look oblivious.

“Jisung and Jaemin went to the bathroom,” Mark says.

“I’m gonna go too.” The Chinese boy walks off.

Jeno isn’t quick enough to realize the trap he’s now in.

“What held you guys back?” Donghyuck asks, not missing a beat.

“Uh...” no excuses come to the front of Jeno’s mind. “Renjun tripped.”

Mark’s eyebrows pop up. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Jeno replies. “He didn’t end up falling.”

Donghyuck steps closer, eyes narrowed. “Something else happened. You’re blushing.”

Jeno tries to pull a poker face. “No, I’m not.”

Donghyuck pokes his cheek. “Yeah, you are.” A moment passes in which Jeno can’t say anything to save himself. “Did you have a cute moment? Did he fall on you?”

Jeno’s eyes widen and he steps back. “No, what the hell!”

“Then what?”

Jeno feels dumb. So he says as much. “It’s really not that big of a deal. You’re gonna think I’m dumb for blushing.”

“I already think you’re dumb,” Donghyuck retorts.

Jeno rolls his eyes. “I hate you all.” Donghyuck continues to stare at him expectantly. “Ugh, fine. When he tripped he grabbed my shoulder and I grabbed his hand back ‘cus, like, I don’t know, and our hands stayed like that for a while and I think I got lost in his eyes because our eyes locked and then my brain sorta blanked until I realized he was fine and I could move my hand,” Jeno rushes it all in one sentence.

Donghyuck frowns for two seconds before saying, “You’re not dumb for blushing. Just whipped. Really whipped.”

Mark suddenly pulls Donghyuck back beside him and throws an arm over his boyfriend’s shoulder. “They’re coming back. Act natural.”

Jeno schools his expression before the three boys appear next to him.

“What’re we gonna do now?” Jisung asks upon reaching.

Jeno assumes they succeeded at ‘acting natural.’


	5. Chapter Five

Jeno realizes how whipped he truly is over the next couple days. The Chinese boy crosses his mind too many times to count and Jeno finds himself daydreaming about him at random times like when he’s brushing his teeth. He goes to sleep wondering what things he could do to make Renjun smile.

On Monday when they’re in school, Jeno barely focuses on anything the teacher says in biology class because all he wants to study is the way Renjun’s dark hair swishes to the side whenever he moves, how he pushes his glasses up his nose about every 20 minutes, how he huffs whenever he messes up his notes.

He only catches Jeno staring once. When he does, their eyes meet for a startled moment before Jeno pulls a sheepish smile and Renjun looks away. His hand comes up soon after to squish his cheeks into his face as he supports his head on it.

Donghyuck would say he did it to hide his blush. Jeno would say it was _hella adorable I wanted to coo._

At lunch time, their bonding as a group continues and Donghyuck adds Renjun to their group chat along with Jaemin who immediately starts complaining about how tasteless his own school’s food is. Renjun seems more comfortable with them all because he laughs louder, bumping his shoulder with Jeno’s, and doesn’t hesitate to counter (or agree with) Jisung’s savage comments.

~|~|~|~|~

After choir the next day, Jeno and Renjun end up waiting at the curb again. Jeno is explaining how Mark and Donghyuck got together after Renjun commented how cute of a couple they were as they left holding hands, as usual.

“...and Mark pined for like a whole month before _Donghyuck_ ended up being the one to ask him out. He embarrassed himself several times on that date and called me after babbling about how much of an idiot he was—and I agreed,” Jeno adds. “I told him to ask Donghyuck out on another date and obviously Donghyuck was also whipped for Mark’s sorry ass so he said yes. They went on the date and I guess Mark did something right because the next thing I know he’s calling me yelling about how he’s the luckiest guy on earth and he doesn’t deserve such an amazing guy and blah blah blah. Basically, he got kissed,” Jeno finishes.

Renjun is laughing quietly, his hand covering his mouth. “That just makes them even cuter. That’s sweet.”

“It’s not sweet to be the best friend, though,” Jeno says. “Mark used to call me whenever something happened and he’d just go off about it for like a half hour. On the inside, he’s the _softest_ person ever.”

Another surge of giggles overcomes Renjun. “Crushing on someone usually makes you soft,” he eventually says.

Jeno knows he’s crushing on someone but he never labelled himself as soft. He looks over and finds Renjun looking down the street, tongue playing with his snaggle-tooth. His insides melt and he thinks, _okay, I guess I am soft. This is new._ But he doesn’t gush to Mark about it.

“I guess,” he says. “But I think Mark is especially soft. Outwardly. Some people internalize it.”

Renjun looks up at him, silent for a couple seconds. “You sound like you speak from experience.” He looks away. “I internalize it too.”

Jeno doesn’t know how to interpret that.

He isn’t forced to, because Renjun’s mom pulls up just then.

Renjun steps towards the car. “Bye, Jeno.”

Jeno’s hand comes up to wave. “Bye, Renjun.”

Renjun opens the door and drops into the seat but before he can close the door, his mother says something to him in Chinese and he pauses. They share a few words, during which Jeno stands there totally confused. Then Renjun turns back to him and says, “Do you want us to drive you home? We live near each other so Mum says it’s not a problem.”

Jeno hasn’t heard an offer like that in a while and he definitely didn’t expect it from his crush, so it takes him a moment to answer. “Uh, yeah, okay. If she doesn’t mind.”

Renjun’s soft smile shows up and Jeno hesitantly gets into the backseat. They greet each other, Jeno transforming into a respectful, soft spoken boy. Mrs. Hwang smiles at him in the rear-view mirror and drives off. She asks for directions, and Jeno is glad she’s just as fluent in Korean as Renjun.

The atmosphere is tense for Jeno because he doesn’t know what to say in the presence of this adult who, worse yet, is the mother of his crush. She seems to be the source of Renjun’s quiet nature because she doesn’t initiate conversation beyond, “Left by this building?”

The two boys don’t speak to each other until they pull up outside Jeno’s house and have to say goodbye. Jeno thanks Mrs. Hwang approximately three times and makes sure to use his award-winning smile.

Mrs. Hwang even waits for him to get into his house before driving away and he’s thinking _wow she’s nice_ when he hears, “JEEEEEEENOOOOOOOOOOO!”

He cringes and looks out the window next to the door.

“WAS THAT RENJUN’S MOM?”

Sigh. Jaemin.


	6. Chapter Six

“So when are you going to ask Renjun out?”

Jeno looks up from his math homework to scowl at Donghyuck. “I’m not even gonna answer you.”

They’re in a study room in the library, trying to make use of their study period.

“Don’t you think it’s about time?”

“No. It’s only been like two or three weeks,” Jeno says, writing down an equation.

“Don’t you think that’s enough? He’s gonna friend-zone you if you don’t act quick.”

“Well I don’t want to act quick, okay? You and Mark took like three months to get together,” Jeno says pointedly. “I’d say you were both in the friend-zone for at least one of those months.”

Donghyuck flounders for a minute with nothing to say until he decides to defend himself. “That’s because I was waiting for him to make a move! He was so emotionally constipated around me that I never knew if he actually liked me so I didn’t want to ask first and embarrass myself.”

“You did end up asking first.”

“Because he took so long! And I was stressed with exams and my whole mood was just _fuck everything_ so I took the leap because I was already mad at the world and if he’d said no it wouldn’t ruin everything because everything was already ruined!”

Jeno’s eyebrows rise and he holds up his hand. “Okay, that got dramatic.”

“I _am_ dramatic.”

“I’m glad you know.”

“The point _is_ , Jeno, you idiot, don’t make Renjun wait like I did.”

“But he probably doesn’t like me that way.” Jeno sulks.

“You never know. I’ve been in love with Mark longer than he’s been with me and he still doesn’t know. You could _never know_.”

Jeno misses the point again. “You liked Mark before you started walking home together?” he asks incredulously, eyes wide.

Donghyuck rolls his eyes and exhales loudly. “ _Yes, and_ don’t tell him.”

“Since when?”

“It’s none of your business,” Donghyuck snaps. “He’s, like, the golden boy of his year, do you really think I’d never noticed him before?” He huffs. “ _Any-fucking-way_ , can you just ask Renjun out, please? I have a strong feeling he’ll say yes.”

Jeno stares at the figures on his page and thinks it over. “I don’t think I can do it, honestly.”

Donghyuck sighs and his gaze softens into a sympathetic one. “Okay, I get it. Nerves and anxiety. The what-if-he-hates-me-after thoughts. But maybe just try asking him to study or something? Or go get ice cream after school? Don’t make it a date. Make it a hangout.”

Jeno turns his eraser over and over in his hand as he goes through all the terrifying scenarios. “I’ll think about it.”

About ten minutes pass and Jeno is still debating with himself, math homework on pause, when Mark shows up with Renjun in tow.

Jeno is forced to snap himself out of his Renjun-induced daze to act normal in front of Renjun himself. Once he dismisses the thoughts of going out with the Chinese boy, a smile comes easily to his face because of Renjun’s contagious one.

“Hey!” Mark falls into the chair next to Donghyuck, tugging his ear in the process. Jeno concludes it’s their substitute to a kiss in public, even though Donghyuck rolls his eyes (half-heartedly) every time.

“Hi,” Renjun greets and takes the seat left over next to Jeno.

Jeno and Donghyuck say hi back to them and move across their books to make room.

“Sorry we’re late,” Mark says, “Renjun got lost on his way from the art room and I had to go find him.”

They all chuckle, including Renjun with an added blush. “Why’d they have to put it so far in the back of the school?” Renjun whines.

“Not a lot of students choose to do art when it isn’t mandatory anymore,” Jeno says. (He’s proud of himself for contributing to the conversation).

Donghyuck hums in agreement and Renjun shrugs as he opens his bag and pulls out a sketchbook.

Jeno watches him flip through the pages and Renjun probably feels his stare because his gaze snaps up to meet Jeno’s. The younger fumbles for something to say.

“You’re really good at drawing,” he blurts.

Renjun smiles (and Jeno’s heart swells) before he resumes flipping through the book. “Thanks. I mostly just doodle.”

Jeno gapes at a pretty drawing of a cottage surrounded by flowers and then at a detailed drawing of a pair of Converse in motion as if invisible feet were walking in them.

“ _Just doodles?_ ” Jeno says incredulously.

“Dude, you’re a full out artist,” Mark says, him and Donghyuck craning their necks to see into the sketchbook.

Renjun skips a page too fast and lands on a half-done sketch of what looks like Moomin. “Yeah, look, they’re just doodles,” Renjun says as if he believes that makes a point.

Donghyuck scoffs. “ _That’s_ just a doodle. The rest of them are insanely good, proper drawings.”

Red stains Renjun’s cheeks. “Well, I don’t think they’re that good. I could be better.”

“Even if you think you could be better, those are still amazing,” Jeno says, hoping Renjun picks up how sincere he is. Jeno is ready to frame all of the ‘doodles’ and put them in all the best museums. Heck, he’s ready to go outside and yell ‘Renjun is the best artist of our generation!’ at everyone who passes. He wouldn’t even say he’s being biased.

Renjun’s blush reaches his ears and he murmurs shyly, “Thanks.”

Jeno wants to kiss his flushed face.


	7. Chapter Seven

Jeno’s mind is off of Renjun for once while he’s in basketball practice. He’s sweaty and his adrenaline is pumping as their coach yells at them during their practice game. He’s in his element, with one goal in mind: scoring. He’s proud of his ability to focus on the ball while keeping his opponents in sight and analysing all the possible plays.

He sees his chance and takes it without a second chance. Dodge, grab, run, dodge again, shoot and... _YES._

His teammates cheer and he gets a “Good job, Jeno,” from his coach.

A massive grin breaks out on his face as he slows down his momentum. Man, he loves winning. He loves this sport.

Mark jogs past him and they automatically high-five before resuming the game.

Another thirty minutes pass and Jeno shoots another basket before their coach calls the end of the game. Jeno’s all hyped up on adrenaline and satisfaction with himself so he goes over to his water cooler with a spring in his step. Mark meets him a few seconds later, bringing his own water bottle to his mouth. When the boys have gulped down a sufficient amount of water, the older nudges Jeno with his elbow.

“Did you see Renjun?”

Jeno’s face contorts to express his confusion. His mind was so far away that he doesn’t get the context of the question right away. “When? Today? Yeah, he had lunch with u – “

“No, like, right now. He’s in the bleachers,” Mark whispers.

Jeno’s eyes open wide and he glances at the bleachers to the right of the gym before he can stop himself.

Mark isn’t lying. Renjun is sitting right in the middle of the bleachers, his right hand flicking across what Jeno assumes is a notebook. Donghyuck is sitting next to him, mouth moving with words Jeno can’t make out from so far away.

Jeno’s gaze flies back to Mark frantically. “How long has he been here?”

Mark shrugs. “I noticed them maybe, like, fifteen or twenty minutes into the game.”

Jeno almost chokes on his spit. “That was, like, over an hour ago!”

Mark nods. “So?”

Jeno’s mouth opens to answer but really and truly he doesn’t have a good response. He pauses to think.

_So what? ...I had my guard down. Did I do anything embarrassing?_

He speaks his mind to Mark.

Mark shakes his head. “No, you were playing like a pro. Is that embarrassing?”

Jeno shrugs but then— “Okay, it isn’t. But do you think I looked good?”

Mark rolls his eyes. “I don’t know! You’re my best friend, I don’t look at you that way.”

Jeno considers this. “Okay, what if you saw Donghyuck playing basketball; running around, shooting hoops. What would you think?”

Mark frowns. “Donghyuck is no good at basketball, he’d storm off after the first five minutes of not getting a basket.”

Jeno lets out a disgruntled sound. “You are zero help.”

A small smile plays on Mark’s lips. “Not like you helped me with Donghyuck.”

Before Jeno can bite back, Renjun looks up. His eyes flit around till they find Jeno’s and he waves timidly. Jeno waves back, his lips involuntarily pulling up into a grin.

Donghyuck grabs his bag and starts making his way down the bleachers and Renjun follows.

“Do I look this giddy when I look at Donghyuck?” Mark whispers to Jeno.

“Yes,” Jeno says, turning around to pick up his bottle and bag.

He tries to wipe some of the sweat from his face before the other boys arrive next to them. He hopes to god that he doesn’t smell too bad. He knows they’re near when Mark says ‘Hi,’ and he turns to meet Renjun standing directly in front of him, a small smile on his lips. Jeno smiles back. Obviously.

“Why weren’t you in choir?” Mark asks.

“Because there was no choir,” Donghyuck replies. “Taeil had some emergency.”

Mark makes a concerned frown but before more words can come out of his mouth, Donghyuck instructs them to go bathe.

Meanwhile, Renjun makes a mental note to hide the fresh drawing of a boy in mid-air, throwing a ball, in his sketchbook. He should probably do something about the sharp side profile that had almost been seen the day before too. He also thanks god that Converse are common enough not to raise questions.


	8. Chapter Eight

Jeno shuts all his history books closed and gathers them up along with his pencil case, glad to finally be done with school for the week. He joins the throng of students eager to leave and makes his way to his locker where he deposits all the books he’s sure he’s not going to touch over the weekend.

Donghyuck shows up when he’s closing the locker and they greet each other before heading to the exit where they’ll meet Mark.

“You wanna go get ice cream?” Donghyuck asks as they weave through the other students.

Jeno throws his mind to the thought of ice cream and shrugs. He thinks he’s hungry enough...it’s Friday so he doesn’t have to do any homework...wait how much allowance does he have left? Probably enough, but his savings this week might be low.

“Okay,” he says.

The side of Donghyuck’s mouth quirks up. “Cool. I already asked Mark and he’s coming.”

“Ugh, am I gonna be third-wheeling?” Jeno groans.

“No, Renjun is coming too.”

Jeno looks over at Donghyuck, startled. The younger has a grin on display.

“He’s a part of our friend group now, this should be normal,” Donghyuck says. Jeno hears the fake innocence in his tone. “Even if you don’t want me to wingman, I’ll be friendly,” he adds with a smug lift of his chin.

Jeno rolls his eyes. “Whatever.”

He doesn’t think to ask about Jisung.

When they reach outside, they find Renjun first. He’s standing near the busy gateway with his eyes on his phone, fingers tapping away. He’s wearing his glasses at the moment and Jeno hates his irrational hormones for the resounding ‘ _fuck, he’s gorgeous_ ’ that goes through his mind. Jeno wants to know since when does he think that glasses are attractive.

Renjun glances up when they’re nearer and finishes off a text before pocketing his phone. He turns to face them and smiles ( _always that pretty smile_ , Jeno thinks) as they stop in front of him.

“Hi, Renjun,” Jeno says, and is followed by Donghyuck’s “Heeeyyy!”

“Hey, guys, what’s up?”

“Ice cream, remember?” replies Donghyuck.

Renjun nods. “Yeah, I remember. This place better be as good as you said. Where’s Mark?”

Jeno shrugs. “No clue.”

Donghyuck turns to scan the school courtyard. “He should be here by now. He had...Literature? I think it’s Literature...” he thinks out loud, squinting at the many students flooding the yard. He shrugs and turns back to face them. “He probably went to the bathroom or something.”

Donghyuck asks Renjun about his day and they end up talking about how useless their level of math seems to be.

“I’ve been doing Math basically my whole life, _why_ is it still mandatory,” Donghyuck complains.

“What’s still mandatory?” Mark shows up beside Donghyuck.

“Math,” Jeno and Renjun respond in unison.

Mark wrinkles his nose and snakes his arm around Donghyuck. “Right.”

Donghyuck is suddenly beaming and Jeno sighs dramatically, looking at Renjun instead to sympathize.

“This is what you signed up for,” Jeno says in a disapproving tone. “We’re gonna constantly be witness of their PDA.”

Renjun shares his exasperated look with a shake of his head.

“Hey, we don’t kiss in front of you anymore!” Donghyuck protests.

“And I’m _eternally grateful_ for that,” Jeno drawls. “But you’re still disgustingly affectionate.”

“Deal with it, bro,” Mark says, head resting against Donghyuck’s.

Jeno is taken aback by the boldness that his best friend barely ever shows and can’t think of a retort fast enough. _Is this what love does to people?_

Mark smirks — more victorious than smug — and changes the subject. “Sorry I took long, I was talking to Jaehyun, this new substitute for my Literature teacher. He used to play basketball with us before he graduated two years ago.”

The other boys nod in acknowledgement while Donghyuck still has a dreamy smile on his face, looking up at his boyfriend.

Jeno turns. He’s so not here for this. “Let’s go before the ice cream place gets full with kids.”

Him and Renjun walk off ahead of the couple, Jeno making purposeful steps and Renjun following.

“You know where it is?” Renjun asks, glancing at the younger.

His response is easy. “Yeah, we go there a lot actually. It’s just a ten-minute walk.”

Renjun nods, assured.

“The ice cream is really good,” Jeno says. He wants the conversation to continue. “They have all kinds of flavours.”

“What do you usually get?”

_Success._

“Triple Chocolate Sensation.”

Renjun hums. “Sounds interesting. I’m not feeling for chocolate today, though.”

Jeno balks. “How does one not feel for chocolate?”

Renjun chuckles at how taken-aback Jeno seems to be. “I _like_ chocolate, don’t get me wrong, but I just don’t really feel like eating it right now.”

“Oh my god, what a sad life,” Jeno mutters, genuinely feeling sad for Renjun. “I _love_ chocolate. I can eat chocolate any day, any time.”

Renjun shakes his head in a playful way. “Too much sugar isn’t good for you,” he says in a mock serious tone.

Jeno groans. “I don’t need you to lecture me too. My mom already interrogates me every day about what I buy to eat.”

A chuckle. “She really does?”

“Yes. Unfortunately,” Jeno grumbles. “And I can’t lie to her because she knows my tell.”

Renjun glances over curiously. “What is it?”

Jeno doesn’t bother to weigh the consequences of letting out this information. “My nose twitches.”

Renjun laughs. “Awww, that’s so cute!”

Cute. Jeno involuntarily blushes so quick that he can’t pretend to be a tough guy and fight it off. He hates being called cute. But he guesses if Renjun’s the one saying it... He still brushes it off to save face.

“No, it’s not. I can never get away with anything when it comes to my mom!”

And so their conversation spirals. They end up sharing stories of failed lying attempts and they’re laughing at the thought of ten-year-old Renjun faking a smile while eating horrid porridge when they reach the ice cream parlour unaware of the lack of their two friends.

Jeno pulls the door open for Renjun and pauses to let Mark and Donghyuck enter—except they aren’t there.

He peers down the street and still no couple in sight. Confused, he releases the door and steps over to Renjun.

“Uh, Mark and Donghyuck aren’t here.”

Renjun turns from the display of ice cream flavours with a raised eyebrow.

“They were behind us.”

“They’re not there anymore.”

Renjun strides over to the door and looks out to see for himself, eyes scanning the street.

“I swear they were there, like, five minutes ago.”

Jeno pulls out his phone to call one of them. _They couldn’t have fallen that far back._

An older boy enters the shop and Renjun pulls Jeno to the side to clear the entryway. Jeno pretends not to notice the lingering feeling of Renjun’s fingers around his arm.

“Could they have gotten lost?”

Jeno shakes his head. “I bet they could walk here in their sleep. And we were right in front of them.”

Renjun pulls an ‘I don’t know’ face and shrugs.

Jeno puts his phone to his ear as Mark’s number is dialled.

“Actually, thinking about it,” Renjun starts, “I haven’t heard them speaking since...maybe the main road?”

Jeno thinks back, but he really can’t remember hearing the pair or not. He’s gotten good at tuning them out. “That was probably five minutes ago.”

“Which was the last time I saw them,” Renjun mutters. “That adds up.”

The ringing in Jeno’s ear dies and is followed by Mark’s voicemail. Jeno ends the call, disappointed.

Renjun questions him with his eyes. “So...?”

“They ditched us,” Jeno finishes.

_Fuck._

He sees their plot.

_Fucking Donghyuck_ , Jeno’s telling all their friends to skip his next recital.

“Huh.” Renjun’s tongue slides over his snaggle-tooth. “So they didn’t get kidnapped?”

Jeno wants to laugh but he wants to throttle Donghyuck more. “Nah. It’s a conspiracy.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Let’s go order.”

~|~|~

After the boys get their ice cream — Triple Chocolate Sensation for Jeno and Chococonut Swirl for Renjun (he let Jeno’s rant about chocolate influence his chocolate-coconut choice) — they claim a pair of comfortable chairs by a window.

Surprisingly, Jeno doesn’t have to worry about finding a conversation topic because they pick up where they left off easily. He doesn’t feel anxious either, and their conversation falls into a natural flow.

He tries every angle to get a smile — or better yet, a _giggle_ — out of Renjun.

Jeno is bad at remembering jokes so he sticks to amusing stories and slightly exaggerated comments.

They learn random things about each other, confirm obvious things, reveal inconspicuous things.

Their ice cream is long gone when Renjun tells Jeno that he has on braces to straighten his snaggle-tooth.

“It sucks that I can’t eat popcorn because of my braces. Once I – “

“You have braces?” Jeno interjects. He can’t see any braces! How does Renjun have braces?

Renjun backtracks. “Yeah. On the back of my teeth.” He points into his mouth, pulling back his tongue to show links of metal along the back of his bottom teeth.

The reason is obvious but love-struck-Jeno doesn’t see the flaw that others might, so he asks, “But why?”

“To fix my snaggle-tooth,” Renjun replies.

In objection, Jeno immediately blurts, “But it’s cute!”

Then he almost slaps himself.

_Where is his filter?_

He mentally groans.

Renjun’s eyes have widened slightly and his mouth is in the shape of an ‘O’.

Jeno actually thinks he’s the one blushing more because he feels his cheeks warming. He shrinks back into his chair. “I mean, I don’t see a problem with it,” he mumbles almost into his shirt.

The side of Renjun’s mouth tugs up. “You think it’s cute?”

Jeno becomes very interested in the table between them. “Um...yeah.”

His heart is beating loudly in his ears and he really wishes it’d stop.

“Thanks. But my mum wants it fixed. She’s paying for it, anyway. Perfect teeth look nicer.”

“You’re seriously already perfect,” Jeno really mutters into his shirt this time.

“What?”

“What? I didn’t say anything.” Jeno clears his throat and sits up, banishing his embarrassment and trying to find his filter. “How long have we been here?”

Renjun presses his phone’s home button to check the time. “Two hours.”

“Wow,” Jeno breathes. “Do you have to go home now?”

Renjun shrugs. “Whenever you’re ready. I learned the walk home so I can go home by myself now.” He glances outside. “Before it gets dark, though.”

They’ve got maybe another hour, Jeno thinks.

“Do you know the way from here though?” Jeno asks.

The thought reaches Renjun and his face falls. “Ah, no.” He scratches his head. “I know from the main road.”

Jeno takes another chance. “I’ll walk with you.”

Renjun smiles.

Jeno is in love.

~|~|~|~|~

Jeno goes home to gush to a prying Jaemin (“HEY, JENO! WHY’RE YOU HOME SO LATE?”) and Renjun goes home to gush to a bored cousin named Chenle (“Chenle, he said my snaggle-tooth is cute!”).

Jeno’s heart has him in a giddy mood but his mind reels him back with fear—what if Renjun doesn’t like him back in that way?

Renjun feels on top of the world and starts a whole new sketch of his black haired muse eating ice cream blissfully. He’s designated a whole sketchbook for his Jeno-inspired drawings and he leaves it at home so no mishaps can happen where Jeno can see it.

His fear only sets in when he’s done and is flipping through his completed sketches. He already has five...of someone who may not even see him that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Jaemin's Chinese friend is indeed Chenle, also Renjun's cousin.


	9. Chapter Nine

The next Tuesday, Jeno and Renjun are waiting on the latter’s mother again. It’s basically a routine at this point.

“What if I dyed my hair blond?” Jeno pulls at his fringe, crossing his eyes to look at it. He thinks he needs a haircut.

“Blond?” Renjun exclaims, eyes wide.

Jeno releases his hair. “Yeah.”

“That’s...” Renjun squints at Jeno as if trying to imagine it. “That’d be really different.”

“Different bad or different good?”

Renjun taps his chin, thoughtful. “Either really bad...or insanely good.”

Jeno hums, rocking back on his heels. “Should I take the risk?”

Renjun glances at him sceptically again. “Maybe. If you get a good person to do it then go for it, I guess.”

Jeno grins. “I trust your opinion. I’m thinking of doing it during the next school break. You’ll tell me if it’s horrible or not, right?”

Renjun shakes his head dismissively and looks at the cars passing on the road. “I bet you can pull off any colour. It won’t be horrible.”

“Is that a compliment?” Jeno asks, feeling confident today.

Renjun continues looking down the road but a small smile plays at his lips. “Take it however you’d like.”

Jeno buzzes with the implications of that statement.

“I’m taking the compliment then.”

A chuckle escapes Renjun’s mouth.

“You should try red hair,” Jeno suggests.

Renjun turns to him. “Red? You think so? Red seems so...loud.”

Jeno shrugs. “It’d still look good.” Actually the more he thinks about it, Renjun would look _hot_ with red hair. He definitely needs to see that at least once.

The Chinese boy consciously touches his hair. “I’ve never really thought about dyeing my hair. Especially not red. I feel like outrageous colours wouldn’t look good on me.”

Jeno leans a bit closer to Renjun to make sure Renjun hears him, to emphasize his point. He really is feeling confident. “I think you’d look great in anything.”

Renjun’s expression doesn’t change but his ears turn red. “Is that a compliment?” he says, mocking Jeno.

Jeno smiles. “Of course it is.”

Then a familiar black car pulls up in front of them.

Renjun only makes eye contact with him then. “Do you want a ride again?”

Jeno doesn’t see any reason to reject the offer. “Okay, thanks.”

Renjun opens the back door and it takes Jeno a moment to realize that it’s a cue for him to get in. He tells himself to _move_ and ducks into the car, giving Renjun a smile in the process.

He greets Renjun’s mother as he sits down and she smiles back at him through the rear-view mirror, “Hello, dear.”

Then he realizes that Renjun is coming in the back seat with him and scrambles over to the other side.

 _Oh okay this is what’s happening okay then_ , Jeno’s thoughts jumble up at the sudden close proximity.

Renjun closes the door behind him and settles down in the seat, throwing his bag onto the front seat. His mother drives off, unperturbed.

“I think if I dyed my hair I’d just do it brown first,” Renjun says to Jeno.

“Ah, so safe,” Jeno says teasingly. He isn’t surprised. Renjun is the type to ease into things.

Renjun tilts his head as if to say _I can’t deny that_. “If I suddenly had red hair I’d probably scare myself when I looked in the mirror.”

“You’d scare me too,” Mrs. Hwang suddenly mutters and a peal of laughter bursts from Jeno.

“I hope you’re not plotting to dye your hair without telling me.” Renjun’s mother gives him a stern look in the rear-view mirror.

Renjun shakes his head, “No, Mom.”

“Not yet,” Jeno whispers mischievously.

Renjun smacks his shoulder with a subtle smile.

“I’ll tell you when, Mom,” Renjun tries to cover it up. “And it won’t be red.”

“Or green?”

Renjun looks up exasperatedly and Jeno snickers. _Renjun’s mom is low key funny._

“Or green.”


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter you've been waiting for. I think.

Jeno relives the moment he first learned of Renjun’s existence on Wednesday afternoon.

He stayed back after school finished to study in their library so he ends up leaving late, at about four.

He’s walking down the quiet hallways of the school on his way to the exit when he hears it.

This time, he knows. He thinks he’ll always know.

So he pauses and listens, all his feelings bubbling up inside him.

Renjun doesn’t make it easy for him at all, does he? He feels like he falls harder every day.

But why is he here right now? They don’t have choir today.

Jeno waits for the song to end before knocking on the door tentatively.

A moment or two pass before the door opens to a furtive looking Renjun. Their eyes meet almost immediately and Renjun sighs from what seems like relief.

“Oh, it’s you.”

Jeno raises an eyebrow. “Expected someone else?”

“No, it’s just — “ Renjun pulls the door open and gestures for Jeno to come in. “I didn’t want to have to explain to a teacher why I’m here after class hours. Taeil is letting me use his music classroom so I wouldn’t get in trouble but I just hate talking to teachers.”

Jeno nods in understanding. They’ve got some pretty intimidating teachers. He closes the door behind him and asks, “So what are you practicing for?”

Renjun lifts up a set of papers with what looks like music on it. “Taeil wants me to try singing his new song, La La Love. He wants Donghyuck and I to do it as a duet for the recital coming up in the end of November. He wants us to practice the whole thing so he can assign parts tomorrow.”

_You should sing the whole thing, you’re the best._

Jeno realizes he’s terribly biased.

“From what I heard, you sound great,” he says. “The song really suits your voice.”

Renjun ducks his head slightly, looking at the floor. His hair is combed over his forehead today so it’s covering his eyes a bit.

“Thanks.” He sighs. “I’ve been trying since last week. Donghyuck is supposed to be here...” He shrugs. “But I guess he got distracted by Mark or something. I don’t know what parts he wants.”

Jeno hums. “Just sing the whole thing like you would. Taeil will share up the parts in the best way.”

Renjun rubs at his neck. “I guess. Um, do you want to hear it? Like, not through a door.”

Jeno’s mind yells _OH MY GOD YES_ but he bottles that up. Instead, he nods with an amused smile, “Yeah, sure.”

Renjun shuffles his feet and clears his throat as he leans on the teacher’s desk and trains his gaze on the chart of piano notes at the back of the class.

Then, he sings.

Jeno’s heart surges with every prolonged note and all of his feelings rise to the top of his chest. The lyrics make it worse.

Renjun closes his eyes halfway through the song and he puts more power into the last chorus, his nose scrunching up as he belts out the lines.

Jeno gets mesmerized. Renjun is so...beautiful.

He’s not just pretty, not just cute, not just attractive. Everything about him is “ _totally beautiful_.” 

Renjun doesn’t notice that Jeno has muttered anything.

He finishes, lowering his voice to nothing, and Jeno feels breathless. His breathing has been shallow since the first chorus. He’s barely thinking, it’s like his brain has short circuited. All that’s running through his mind is _Renjun._

Said boy takes a deep breath (Jeno should probably do the same) and licks his lips before opening his eyes and looking at Jeno.

Jeno just wants to kiss him.

So he goes for it.

His hand reaches out for Renjun’s and he tugs him closer till the Chinese boy is an inch away from him. Renjun doesn’t seem startled, just looks Jeno in his eyes. Their breaths mingle in the small space between them.

Far in the back of Jeno’s mind there’s an alarm going off. So many things could go wrong. But his emotions win out, and Renjun isn’t pulling away in disgust, so he leans down and closes the space between them.

Their lips touch and Jeno’s stomach plummets because _ohmygodhe’skissingrenjunandhehasn’tbeenslappedanddoesRenjunlikehimbackandisheevengoodatkissing_ and his thoughts accelerate into a mental scream and then everything disappears when Renjun _kisses him back_. It’s the slightest push back on behalf of Renjun really, but it literally makes Jeno lose his breath. Seriously, actually stops breathing.

Renjun’s lips are soft and the kiss is gentle. They’re both cautious so it doesn’t intensify. Renjun does twist his hand around, though, so now their fingers are intertwined, and Jeno’s other hand rests on the small of Renjun’s back. The moment feels multiplied by ten because of the adrenaline rushing through Jeno and then—

_He’s not breathing._

So he pulls away with a gasp.

They end up just staring at each other. Their chests are rising and falling in deep breaths and both their cheeks are rosy.

Jeno has to break eye contact so he can recover. He leans back on the teacher’s desk and looks up at the plain white — pale yellow now really — ceiling to think.

He still can’t think straight. His mind is a whole blob of _WHAT_. He really wants to scream it.

His mind scrambles for a minute in which Renjun stays still, watching him.

Eventually, his mind chucks this out his mouth: “Do you like me?”

When he looks over at Renjun, the boy seems timid, holding his arms as if he’s cold. Jeno sees him take a deep breath and his mouth opens.

“Yes, Jeno. I do.” Their eyes lock. “A lot, actually,” he adds.

Jeno smiles before he even realizes. He feels his eyes turn up into crescents as a knot loosens in his chest.

“I like you too. A lot, actually.”

Renjun giggles and that’s all he needs.


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really short epilogue just because I like elated Jeno.

When Jeno turns into his street, he bolts over to Jaemin’s house — something he never thought he’d do.

He bangs on the door.

“JAEMIN! JAAAAAAEEEEEEEMIN!”

Jaemin pops his head out his window. “You’re calling me?”

“YES OPEN THE DOOR.”

Jaemin stares at him, bewildered.

“OPEN THE DOOR!”

“Okay, okay!”

Jaemin disappears and in a few seconds the door swings open to reveal him.

“Wha – “

“I KISSED RENJUN!” Jeno is literally bouncing on the spot from elation.

Jaemin’s eyes double in size. “You’re kidding!”

“NO!”

“OMG.”

Jeno actually squeals.

~|~|~

The rest of their friend group gets filled in later.

Mark acts like a proud father and Donghyuck just yells and demands Jeno to admit that he was a good wingman. Jisung’s words are happy but Jeno feels as if everything he says is sarcastic because Jisung _is_ sarcasm.

Jeno’s mother notices him smiling like a fool every time they pass each other in the house. She takes a good guess as to what the cause can be (after all, she was a teenager once) and decides she’ll ask him the next morning when he’s settled.

He’s still giddy at breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! I really hope you guys enjoyed this! It's my first (still short) chaptered fic and I tried my best so comments and kudos are really appreciated!  
> I do have intentions of writing Mark and Donghyuck's story, titled Walk You Home (yes keeping the song theme), but I don't know when I'll finish it and post it. Hopefully inspiration strikes soon.


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